tray pocessing massive paper

hey everyone,

once more i must call upon your collected knowledge! i have just bought some 30" x 24" ilfospeed paper - exciting size, pain to process. does anyone know where i can get hold of trays big enough to process or have any idea how i can bodge some together that will do the trick at all?? i dont want to end up cutting this paper down small if i can help it.

Cover a piece of plywood with plastic sheeting then incline it in a sink. Use a spray bottle to apply developer etc. and spread with a sponge. Adding 100% more water to the developer will provide extra control.

Years ago, my Brother and I made some prints this size. We made 'frames' with 2 X 4 lumber and lined them with plastic sheet from the building supply. This made big trays we left on the floor. Final wash was with a hose near the floor drain. This was all done in our basement at night. We also found that our enlarger didn't have enough light to do the job, so we used a slide projector with a 1000W bulb for exposure. Worked for us.

smashing - i might try the trays. i assume you kind of roll the paper through the fluid in the tray getting full coverage left to right. dunking as it were. although i probably could knock up some wooden trays with plastic sheeting on the top....hmmm...decisions...

I bought a 4x8ft sheet of PVC that is used to laminate countertops. Cut out a rectangle with width of the shorter size of your paper and length about 3 inches longer than the long side. Roll it into a cylinder. Then glue the ends together. This is what I use to process large prints. I use a single tray which is a bit longer than the cylinder and fill it with developer. By the way, i put a 2x4 under one end of the tray to use less chemistry. I put the cylinder into the tray, roll the exposed sheet of paper from the enlarger and put this photo roll into the cylinder. Then I start slowly rotating the PVC cylinder and unrolling the photo into it while entering the developer. When you unroll the whole paper, it sticks to the PVC cylinder by capillary effect (it sticks like glue). From that point on, the process is obvious: develop, take the whole cylinder out, dump the developer from the tray and refill with the next chemical. I also do a few washes in that same cylinder before pulling the photo out. This way I don't touch the photo and handling is very easy. The biggest print I've done so far is 20x30, but you can go as wide as you dare.

I hope it clear, if you need photos, I can make them next time I'm doing a large print.